1. How is college different from high school? As you've no doubt discovered already, college introduces a whole new set of challenges that you have not faced before. If college is different, then you will also need to adopt new strategies for success. Using chapter one of your textbook, write an essay that describes in detail four ways that college is different from high school. Describe in detail four corresponding tactics you will use to master the specific challenges of college.
2. Who is responsible for your successes and your failures in college, at work, and beyond? Psychologists use the term "locus of control" to describe how different people assign responsibility for the events in their lives -- bad and good. Discuss the differences between an "external" and an "internal" locus of control. Choose two of the following scenarios and compare how a person with an internal locus of control would explain those events to the way a person with an external locus of control would. Which approach describes you best? Which is the approach that will help you succeed in college? Why?
Scenario A: Just as the student is putting the finishing touches on a paper, her computer crashes and the file is lost.
Scenario B: Student's car breaks down on the way to the final exam.
Scenario C: Student is sick and admitted to hospital.
Scenario D: Professor didn't inform student that he was failing.
Scenario E: Ride to school forgot to pick you up.
Scenario F: Didn't have money to purchase the book for class.
3. In the video called "I am worried about my grade" a student stops a professor on the last day of the semester to ask if he is going to pass the class. This humorous video demonstrates a number of things that drive professors crazy. Name at least a dozen (12) of these no-no's and explain why they are unacceptable behaviors that will undermine your success in college. What do these norms and expectations have in common? How can you avoid making these mistakes?
4. It's on the syllabus! College classes are typically organized around the syllabus, a document that represents a "social contract" between students and faculty. Yet, many students just throw the syllabus away or stuff it in a folder and forget it. Take one of your syllabi from a current class, and describe the features of it in as much detail as you can. What information can be found on it? What would an A+ student do with her syllabus? How would it enable a student's success in the class?
5. Objectively speaking, what benefits does a college graduate have over a non-graduate? Use any data from the first chapter of your textbook or any information covered in this first week of class to illustrate the skills, the knowledge, the financial, and the social benefits gained by graduating from college. What assets does a college degree represent?